In February, the value of utility bills payment fell to
N90.93bn from N164.89bn in January according to data from the Nigeria
Inter-Bank Settlement System. This signified a two-year low for ebill payment .
Since hitting N78.38bn in February 2020, e-bills pay has
consistently stayed above N100bn, rising to N161.87bn in February 2021 and
N218.80bn in February 2022.
NIBSS describes e-bills as daily bill transactions that are
accessible and seamless. It involves the payment of bills, fees, levies,
premiums, and subscriptions through payment channels as e-bills.
According to NIBSS, the payments are done in banking halls
through Internet banking, mobile banking, USSD, and agent networks.
Many expected e-bills payment to grow when the CBN announced
its naira redesign policy and withdrawal limits, in 2022, and said, “Customers
should be encouraged to use alternative channels (Internet banking, mobile
banking apps, USSD, cards/POS, eNaira, etc.) to conduct their banking
transactions.”
However according to the National President, Association of
Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria, Victor Olojo, the policy depressed the
economy and led many Point of Sales terminal operators to shut down their
businesses.
He said, “We can tie this fall (in e-bills payments) to the
policies of the CBN which has depressed the economy and affected all
businesses.
“The policies depressed the economy and affected business
activities. Many businesses were not able to run optimally. Many things were
affected, and the rippling effect was well felt too. This is coupled with the
fact that technology has also been affected, many of the banking apps are not
working properly, which can be tied to the activity of the past few weeks.
“Also, PoS agents which are crucial to e-Bills did not open
their stalls too, which impacted e-bills. Many of the agents who could have
helped, did not open and were out of business, which led to this reduction.”
Olojo further explained that the since the purchasing power
of many Nigerians dropped because of the policy, they couldn’t afford to pay
some of their bills.
He added, “The reality is that ebills pay are disposable
expenses. Nigerians will do it when they have excess cash with them. Bills pay,
airtime, PayTV, all of these are done when people have extra income.”
A recent report by the Centre for the Promotion of Private
Enterprise disclosed that the country’s economy has lost about N20tn since the
CBN began mopping up cash from the economy.
The Director, CPPE, Dr. Muda Yusuf, said, “Millions of
citizens have slipped into penury and destitution as a result of the
disruptions and tribulations perpetrated by the currency redesign policy,
especially the mopping up of over 70 per cent of cash in the economy.”
Experts said the naira redesign policy was meant to encourage
the adoption of the electronic bills channel, but noted that the policy
hammered economic activities and impacted purchasing power of Nigerians.
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